A two-day high-level forum on the theme “Shaping Policy in an interconnected world” has ended here in the Doha, Qatar,

Dubbed “Doha Forum 2018,” it was attended by world leaders, as well as government representatives, security experts, international non-governmental organisations, academics, peace and human right activists, industry and business leaders among others and was under the patronage of the Amir of Qatar, Sheik Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani, who also performed the opening ceremony on Saturday,

The forum, the 18th in the series, discussed issues surrounding diplomacy, dialogue and diversity in different plenary sessions with speakers and experts drawn from various fields and sectors to discuss the issues at the forum.

Some of the topics discussed in the plenary sessions during the two-days included “Global Order Revisited; Old actors, New Alliances”, “The growth potential of emerging markets and the impact on global economy”, “Bit-by-Bit: Enforcing norms in cyberspace,” “Facilitating peace in the Sahel: What are the alternatives to militarisation?” and The targeting and demonisation of journalists and news outlets: What should be done?” among others.

Setting the tone for the discussions, Sheik Tamin in his opening address, stated that, it was only dialogue that can bridge the gap between adversaries, no matter how in tensed the differences were.

Speaking against the backdrop of the blockade against Qatar by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and United Arab Emirates, Sheik Tamin said, the only way to solve the gulf crisis was through dialogue.

“Our position towards solving the Gulf crisis has remained unchanged: lifting the blockade and settling differences through dialogue based on mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs of other countries” he said.

The Amir whose father Amir launched the Doha Forum in 2000 as a global platform at beginning of the new millennium, said that in the aftermath of the cold war and the lessons learnt from the massacres in Rwanda, Burundi and the Balkans, it seemed a new security architecture was in the process of being built to find solutions to various challenges in the area of education, security, health and development.

The president of the United Nations General Assembly, Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces and President of Ecuador, Lenin Moreno Graces, in remarks at the opening ceremony underlined the need for the Doha Forum to continue to provide a global platform to achieve the most ambitious goals of the modern world and to use it to launch a serious global dialogue among all people on increasing challenges ahead.